BRITISH PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS

PUBLICATIONS INCLUDED

PUBLIC BILLS
Public Bills, which relate to public policy, are first numbered when introduced, and each amended version receives a new number. Private Bills, introduced for the particular interest of individuals, public bodies, or local authorities, are not officially printed until they become Acts and do not appear in the Sessional Papers.
REPORTS OF COMMITTEES
These may be generated by the House of Commons sitting as a Committee of the Whole, or by Select Committees (with a membership of Commons members only), or Joint Select Committees (with a membership of both Houses of Parliament). Reports cover the subject matter and texts of proposed legislation as well as the minutes of Committee meetings.
RETURNS
Returns are administrative or executive reports issued periodically or special reports that are required by an Act of Parliament.
ACT PAPERS
These are similar to Returns but are mostly from non-departmental agencies, such as national boards, cor- porations, and authorities established by Parliament.
ROYAL COMMISSION PAPERS AND REPORTS
Reports of specially appointed commissions of investigation, not created by Parliament but by Royal Warrant. They may include state papers on foreign affairs, reports issued on the authority of a government department, reports from ad hoc committees, and statistical returns. Many are issued as Command Papers (below).
COMMAND PAPERS
Reports sent to Parliament through the initiative of the government minister or by Royal Warrant rather than required by an Act of Parliament. They include:
1. State papers (Treaty Series, Country Series, Miscellaneous)
2. Policy or "white papers"
3. Some annual reports
4. Reports of royal commissions
5. Reports of departmental committees
6. Reports of tribunals and commissions of inquiry
7. Statistical reports

Command Papers are numbered consecutively and have been published thus far in five series, distinguished by letter prefixes:

     First Series          1-4222                  1863-69
     Second Series         C.1 - C.9550            1870-99
     Third Series          Cd.1 - Cd.9239          1900-18
     Fourth Series         Cmd.1 - Cmd.9889        1919-56
     Fifth Series          Cmnd.1 - 9927           1956-86
     Sixth Series          Cm. 1 -                 1986-

EIGHTEENTH CENTURY PAPERS

Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Sessional papers of the Eighteenth Century. Edited by Sheila Lambert. Wilmington, Del., Scholarly Resources, 1975- (Grad. Lib. J 301 .K614) [Entry 1]

Facsimile reproductions of extant Bills, Reports, Accounts and Papers during the reigns of George I, George II, and George III, 1715-1800. Includes reports appearing in the Abbott Collection (Entry 4) and "First Series" (Entry 3), as well as new material not elsewhere available. Lists but does not reprint reports appearing in the House of Commons Journal (Entry 2).

Volumes 1 and 2 serve as an index to the set. Volume 2 has a subject index for 1715-1800, citing the year, type of document, and number of each publication. Publications can then be identified in Volume 2, which lists all Bills, Reports, Accounts and Papers, 1715-1760, or Volume 2, 1761-1800. Citations in these lists are given to the House of Commons Journal as appropriate. A plus (+) next to the Entry indicates the document is reprinted in the Lambert set. The page number of Volume 1 or 3 and the "Location" number of the individual publication should be noted. It is then necessary to turn to a second list in each respective index volume to find the citation to the volume in which the reprint occurs.

Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Journals of the House of Commons. v.1-176; 1547-1921. London. (Grad. Lib. J 301 .K3) [Entry 2]

Reprints many of the Commons' reports prior to the 19th Century. References are cited in the Journal's own indexes, in the Lambert Collection (Entry 1) and in Hansard's Cataolgue and Breviate (Entry 12).

Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Reports from committees of the House of Commons. v.1-15. London. 1803-1806. (Rare Book Room J 301 .K5) Entry 3]

Cited as the "First Series." A reprinted collection of Parliamentary reports, 1715-1801, not inserted in the House of Commons Journal (Entry 2). Includes its own index and is also indexed by Hansard's Catalogue and Breviate (Entry 12). Lambert's Collection (Entry 1) is considered more comprehensive.

Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Parliamentary papers. 1731- MICROFICHE. London, Chadwyck-Healey. (Serials MICRO-F X455) [Entry 4]

Reproduces papers appearing in the Abbott Collection but excludes those appearing in the House of Commons Journal (Entry 2). The papers are arranged in four sequences: Accounts and Papers, Catalogue of Papers, Bills, and Reports. The Catalogue has a chronological listing of contents.

NINETEENTH AND TWENTIETH CENTURY PAPERS

Publishing Arrangement

Each session of Parliament usually lasts one year. There may be well over 50 volumes of Parliamentary Papers for each session. The order of papers within the bound volumes, until 1968/69, is as follows:

1. PUBLIC BILLS: arranged alphabetically by their titles.

2. REPORTS FROM COMMITTEES: arranged by subject of name of committee.

3. REPORTS FROM COMMISSIONERS, etc.: arranged by subject.

4. ACCOUNTS AND PAPERS: Arranged in a traditional order, by which Finance comes first, followed by Security, Defense, the Civil Estimate. Trade and Navigational Accounts, Treaties, and International Agreements.

5. SESSIONAL INDEX: lists Bills, Papers, Command Papers, and Reports separately in numerical order and includes a detailed alphabetical index to all Sessional Papers. Refers to bound volume number and page if the pages in each volume were numbered.

Beginning with the session of 1969/70 there are only two sequences:

1. PUBLIC BILLS: arranged alphabetically but with the minutes of proceedings of committees placed immediately after the bill to which they refer.

2. REPORTS, ACCOUNTS AND PAPERS: in a single alphabetical subject arrangement.

3. SESSIONAL INDEX: same as above.

Location of Sessional Papers

• Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Parliamentary papers. 1731-1944/45, 1985/86- MICROFICHE. London, Chadwyck-Healey. (Serials MICRO-F X455)[Entry 5]

  Microfiche holdings are 1731-1944/45 and 1985/86 to the present. Microfiche is the only format available for 1731-1833 and 1985/86 to present. Holdings of the paper copy (Entry 6) are sparse for 1834-1899 but fairly complete for 1900-1982/83 and provide an alternative to fiche. The Law Library microfiche (Entry 7) must be used for 1983/84-1984/85.

• Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Parliamentary papers, 1801 to present. London. (http://parlipapers.chadwyck.com/home.do (UMich Only)) [Entry 5a}

  Indexes bills, reports, accounts and papers and provides the full text for all but 30 of those years. Search engine provides keyword, title, committee, subject, and session approaches. Pages may be viewed individually or downloaded as a whole document.

• Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Sessional papers, 1834-1982/83. London. (Grad. Lib. J 301 .K6) [Entry 6]
  Holdings are sparse, 1834-1899, and some individual reports are listed with separate call numbers in MIRLYN. The printed set is complete, 1900-1902, and 1909-1982/83. Use the Law Library microfiche (Entry 7) for 1983/84-1984/85 and Graduate Library micr ofiche (Entry 5) beginning 1985/86. The last volume of each session is an index. For other indexes, see entries entries 8-12 and 14-22. Use the CD-ROM index (Entry 11) for 1990/91+.

• Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Parliamentary papers. 1980/81- MICROFICHE. London, Chadwyck-Healey. (Law Library) [Entry 7]
  Same as Graduate Library microfiche. The only source available on the University of Michigan campus for 1983/84-1984/85. Government Publications Consolidated List (Entry 10), which is located in the Documents Center, may be used as an index before contacting the Law Library for that two-year time period.

General Indexes

Indexes in addition to the annual index at the end of each session:
• Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Parliamentary papers, 1801 to present. London. (http://parlipapers.chadwyck.com/home.do (UMich Only)) [Entry 8}

  Indexes bills, reports, accounts and papers and provides the full text for all but 30 of those years. Search engine provides keyword, title, committee, subject, and session approaches. Pages may be viewed individually or downloaded as a whole document.

• Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. General alphabetical index to the bills, reports, estimates, accounts and papers. 1801-1899. Shannon, Ireland, Irish University Press. [Entry 9]

  Arranged by broad subject heading. Each heading has a table of contents listing specific subjects and types of documents included. Citations give the year of the session, a paper number in parentheses, Roman numeral for the volume number of that session, and a page number. The paper number in parentheses is not needed to locate the document. The pages in the bound volumes are not continuously numbered, so the page number refers to the document's location were the pages actually numbered. A reference to "1863 (518) LII 519" would be interpreted as "1863 Session, v. 52, p. 519 if the pages were numbered."

  Since the 1801-1852 volume only covers Accounts and Papers, the General Index to Bills, 1801-1852 (Doc. Cen. Z 2009 .A38), Index to the Reports from Select Committees of the House of Commons, 1800-1845 (Doc. Cen. Z 2009 .A39), and General Index to the Bills, Reports, Accounts, and Other Papers, 1845-1852 (Doc. Cen. Z 2009 .A4) should be consulted for related material.

  For coies of the Sessional Papers, see Entries 5 and 6.

• Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. General index to the bills, reports and papers...., and to the reports and papers presented by command. 1900-1958/59. London, H.M. Stationery Office. (Doc. Cen. Z 2009 .A38) [Entry 10]
  The two volumes, 1900-1948/49 and 1950-1958/59, are arranged alphabetically by subject. For each paper, citation is given to the year of the session, a paper number in parentheses, Roman numeral for the volume number of that session, and page number. The paper number given in parentheses is not needed to locate the document. The pages in the bound volume are not numbered continuously, so the page number refers to the document's location were the pages actually numbered. (See Entry 9 for example.)

  For copies of the Sessional Papers, see Entries 5 and 6.

• Great Britain. Stationery Office. Government publications; consolidated list. 1992- London, H.M. Stationery Office. (Doc. Cen. Z 2009 .G781) [Entry 11]
  Annual cumulation provides a subject and numerical approach to current Bills, Reports, Accounts, and Papers. Can be used for identifying publications for 1983/84-84/85 before consulting the Law Library's microfiche of the sessional papers [Entry 7].

• Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Index to House of Commons Sessional Papers. Oct. 1991- CD-ROM. London, Chadwyck-Healey. (Documents Center) [Entry 12]
  Indexes bills, command papers, and House of Commons papers by category, title, keyword, subject, session, paper number, and date. Updated quarterly. Should be used in conjunction with the Graduate Library's microfiche of the sessional papers [Entry 5].

Selective Indexes

• Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Hansard's Catalog and breviate of Parliamentary Papers, 1694-1834. (Doc. Cen. Z 2009 .K63 1953) Oxford, Blackwell, 1953. [Entry 13]
  Lists Commons papers by broad subject category. Citations are made to the House of Commons Journal [Entry 2], First Series [Entry 3], and the bound Sessional Papers [Entry 5]. Indexed by author and detailed subject. A separate chart lists relevants House of Lords papers not reprinted by the House of Commons.

• Ford, Percy. Select list of British Parliamentary Papers, 1833-1899. Shannon, Ireland, Irish University Press, 1969. (Doc. Cen Z 2009 .M3 1969)[Entry 14]
  Lists by broad subject category selected Commons papers and those Lords papers not reprinted by the House of Commons. Provides for each report a citation to the bound volume of Sessional Papers, indexed by subject. For copies of the Sessional Papers, see Entries 5, 6 and 22 and 23.

• Ford, Percy. A breviate of Parliamentary papers, 1900-1916. Oxford, Blackwell, 1957. (Doc. Cen. Z 2009 .F69) [Entry 15]
  Lists selected Commons and Lords Sessional Papers by broad subject heading. Provides citation to the complete text and an abstract of each document. Indexed by author and keyword-in-title. For copies of the Sessional Papers, see Entries 5, 6, and 23.

• Ford, Percy. A breviate of Parliamentary Papers, 1917-1939. Oxford, Blackwell, 1951. (Doc. Cen. Z 2009 .F7) [Entry 16]
  Lists selected Commons and Lords Sessional Papers by broad subject heading. Provides citation to the complete text and an abstract of each document. Indexed by author and keyword-in-title. For copies of the Sessional Papers, see Entries 5, 6, and 23.

• Ford, Percy. A breviate of Parliamentary papers, 1940-1954. Oxford, Blackwell, 1961. (Doc. Cen. Z 2009 .F72) [Entry 17]
  Lists selected Commons and Lords Sessional Papers by broad subject heading. Provides citation to the complete text and an abstract of each document. Indexed by author and keyword-in-title. For copies of the Sessional Papers, see Entries 5, 6, and 23.

• Ford, Percy. Select list of British Parliamentary papers, 1955-64. Shannon, Ireland, Irish University Press, 1970. (Doc. Cen. Z 2009 .F611 1970) Entry 18
  Lists by broad subject category selected Commons and Lords Sessional Papers, as well as some Acts of Parliament and related non-Parliamentary publications. Provides citations to the complete text of each document and some annotations. Indexed by author and keyword-in-title. For copies of the Sessional Papers, see Entries 5, 6, and 23.

• Ford, Percy. Ford list of British Parliamentary papers, 1965-1974. Nendeln, Liechtenstein, KTO Press, 1979. (Doc. Cen. Z 2009 .F74) [Entry 19]
  Lists by broad subject category selected Commons and Lords Sessional Papers, as well as some Acts of Parliament and related non-Parliamentary publications. Provides citation to the complete text of each document and some annotations. Indexed by author and keyword-in-title. For copies of the Sessional Papers, see Entries 5, 6, and 24.

• Temperley, Harold William Vazeille. A century of diplomatic blue books, 1814- 1914. Cambridge, The University Press, 1938. (Doc. Cen. Z 2009 .T28) [Entry 20]
  Lists papers relating to British foreign affairs appearing in the House of Commons Sessional Papers [Entries 5-6), House of Commons Journals (Entry 2), and House of Lords Sessional Papers (Entries 22 and 23). Arranged chronologically with indexes by subje ct and country.

• Vogel, Robert. A breviate of British diplomatic blue books, 1919-1939. Montreal, McGill University Press, 1963. (Doc. Cen. Z 2009 .V88) [Entry 21]
  Lists chronologically all Bills, Papers, and Command Papers on British foreign affairs appearing in the House of Commons Sessional Papers. Indexed by country and subject. For copies of the Sessional Papers, see Entries 5 and 6.

Command Paper Finding Aids

Most subject indexes to House of Commons Sessional Papers cite the year, volume, and page number on which a given Command Paper appears. However, if you just have a citation to a Command Paper number, the means for locating it depends on the year it was published.

Between 1963 and the last bound volume of Sessional Papers, use the numerical listing in each bound index (Entries 5-7) to determine the Command Paper's volume and page number. Prior to 1963, use Entry 22.

Di Roma, Edward. A numerical finding list of British Command Papers published 1833-1961/62. New York, New York Public Library, 1967. (Doc. Cen. Z 2009 .D62) [Entry 22]

Lists the first five series of Command Papers by volume number, providing the year, volume number, and page number on which a Command Paper appears in the Sessional Papers (Entries 5-6).

PUBLICATIONS INCLUDED

Like their Commons counterpart, House of Lords Sessional Papers include Bills, Reports, Accounts, and Papers. Command Papers were bound into the set, 1833-1870. While much of the Lords material is duplicated in the Commons Sessional Papers (Entries 5-7) , the Lords version of Bills, Peerage Cases, Procedural Papers, and early 19th Century Reports from Committees are unique.

PUBLISHING ARRANGEMENT

Each session of Parliament usually lasts one year. The arrangement of bound volumes for the early 19th Century varied with the individual set. Between the 1830's and the early 20th Century, each session's papers were grouped as follows:
MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS
MANUSCRIPTS
BILLS
REPORTS OF SELECT COMMITTEES
ACCOUNTS AND PAPERS
SESSIONAL INDEXES (1886-1920 only)

Beginning with the 1920's, they appear in just two sequences:

PUBLIC BILLS: arranged alphabetically by subject
MISCELLANEOUS: papers arranged alphabetically by type

LOCATION OF SESSIONAL PAPERS

Great Britain. Parliament. House of Lords.
Sessional papers, 1788-1835. MICROFILM. (FILM X2140) [Entry 23]

Great Britain. Parliament. House of Lords.

Sessional papers, 1900-1984/85. London. (J 301 .J6) [Entry 24]

Holdings are limited to Bills 1901-02 and 1919-24 but are complete for 1900 and beginning 1924/25-1978/85.

Great Britain. Parliament. House of Lords.

Sessional papers, 1984/85-present. London. (MICRO-F X421) [Entry 24A]

This is self-indexed but not indexed on the Documents Center's CD-ROM in Entry 12.

If the University of Michigan does not own a particular paper:

• Check the House of Commons indexes for inclusion in that set.
• A reprinted of House of Lords Papers, 1641-1805, and microfilm, 1806-1859, are available on inter-library loan from the Center for Research Libraries.
• For Papers 1860-1924, not available at the University of Michigan, see Winifred Gregory's List of Serial Publications of Foreign Governments, 1815-1931 (Doc. Cen. Z 7164 .G7 L77), p. 311, to identify libraries tentatively owning and loaning the material.
• For Papers, 1985 to present, ask a library staff member to consult RLIN in order to verify libraries tentatively supplying the material on inter-library loan.

INDEXES

Great Britain. Parliament. House of Lords. General index to the Sessional Papers. 1801-1920. London. (Doc. Cen. Z 2009 .A3) [Entry 25]

Arranged by broad subject heading. Each heading has a table of contents listing specific subjects and types of documents included. Citations give the year of the session, Roman numeral for the volume number of that session, and page number. The pages in t he bound volumes are not continuously numbered, so the page number refers to the document's location were the pages actually numbered.

The Documents Center has cumulative indexes for 1801-1884/85 and sessional indexes, 1903-05-1908-20. The Graduate Library has most of these, including an index for the sessions 1901-02, under the call number: J 301 .J6 index.

Annual indexes were discontinued in 1920. They were replaced by a detailed table of contents in the first volume of each year's Papers. The various bibliographies by Percy Ford (Entries 13-18) provide a subject approach to selected Pape rs from the House of Lords, 1833-1974, while Government Publications (Entry 12) provides a comprehensive subject approach, 1992 to present. For a listing of Lords Papers prior to 1801, consult Hansard's Catalog and Breviate (Entry 13).

Ford, Percy.

A guide to Parliamentary Papers: what they are, how to find them, how to use them. 3rd ed. Shannon, Ireland, Irish University Press, 1972. (Doc. Cen. Z 2009 .A1 F69 1972) [Entry 26]

A detailed guide to finding House of Commons and Lords debates, proceedings, and Sessional Papers.

Mallaber, Kenneth A.

The House of Lords Sessional Papers. In Journal of Librarianship 4 (1972) 106-14. (Lib. Sci. Z 671 .J867) [Entry 27]
Describes extant sets of Lords Sessional Papers for the 18th and 19th Centures, comparing them to the House of Commons Sessional Papers.

Rodgers, Frank.

A guide to British government publications. New York, H.W. Wilson, 1980. (Doc. Cen. Z 2009 .R621) [Entry 28]
Encyclopedic history and description of non-Parliamentary and Parliamentary British documents, including debates, votes, and statutes.

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